Through a recent collaborative effort, D-Tools, Inc. and GreatAmerica Financial Services Corporation will provide integrators using D-Tools System Integrator (SI) the ability to offer clients flexible payment options for projects and services, and present them as part of the proposal process. This new integration is available now for all US-based firms utilizing the D-Tools SI software solution.
GreatAmerica will be providing an AV as a Service-like program, AV AMP, that allows integrators to bundle hardware monthly payments with their recurring support costs.
The model benefits system integrators in a few ways, according to D-Tools:
- If accounted for properly, system sales can be recognized as recurring revenue, which increases the value of the business;
- Automatically builds in a service contract, guaranteeing service contract revenues;
- Has the potential to reduce the length of the sales cycle and increase close rates by transferring the decision for a large up-front investment to one with small monthly payments, and
- Provides a mechanism for maintaining a long-term relationship with the client.
“The idea of AV as a Service is finally becoming a mainstream commercial reality. Thanks to the limitless scalability of the Internet of Things, more customers across more vertical markets are moving away from wanting to own a depreciable asset that requires more maintenance over time,” says Kevin Kelly, president and CEO of Stampede.
“The emerging new reality is making a ‘pay-as-you-go’ service model much more appealing to a broader range of customers. This, in turn, is creating exciting new opportunities for forward-looking systems integrators to profit from an entirely new business model based on a shorter technology lifecycles. For the past 20 years, the IT industry has benefited from a 3-year lifecycle on its products, and AVaaS provides our industry with a similar opportunity. The growth implications for our entire industry are staggering,” says Kelly.
